Impact of mass media

Name:                       Heeral A.Bhatt

PG Registration        12101011

Roll no.:                      07

Batch year                 2012/14

Semester                    4

Paper no.                   15

Subject                       Mass communication and Media Studies

                         Impact of Mass media

           The media shape our attitudes about everything from soap to politics. It's important for us to be aware of the impact the mass media has on our culture/society. We need to be vigilant and ask ourselves to look for opposing opinions and evaluate the facts for ourselves rather than blindly accepting the media's version of the "truth." Research has revealed that media is responsible for influencing a major part of our daily life. Media contribute to a transformation in the cultural and social values of the masses. “Media can bring about a change in the attitudes and beliefs of the common man. The persuasive nature of the content presented over media influences the thoughts and behavior of the general public. Media has brought about a major transformation in the way the masses think. Media has given them an excellent platform to present themselves before the world and contribute in their own way to the changing world scenario. Media has been responsible for making the world a smaller place to live”.
Definition of Mass Media:
“The term institutionalized forms of public message production and dissemination, operating in a large scale, involving in a considerable division of labor in their production processes and functioning through complex mediations of print, Film, recording tape, and photography”. J Corner and J.Hawthron.

“Mass media may be defined as any form of communication which is meted out to the people at large, through the various forms of communication. What modes of communication are we talking about? Well there can be no static definition for the channels of mass communication as they are increasing all the time. But any form of communication which is seen and understood by a large mass of people can be taken to mean mass communication or mass media channels”.

         Print media has always been a dominant medium throughout the decades in the western civilization. Media workers have to do research for their reports, which include sifting through piles and piles of information to support a thesis and make it more than one thousand words in order to explain an event, a situation, or a person. Journalists have the duty to report unbiased, accurate information as it is gained from reliable sources. It is their obligation to obtain all sides of a story and to give an account on the good and bad results. There must be a balance of moral and immoral deductions in the final product.

        Newspaper is a great gift of advance technology. Newspaper plays an important role in day to day life. Newspaper is carrier of news. Newspaper serves mankind in various manners. Newspapers are printed in many languages. Almost every house is provided with newspaper service. It is of very cheap. The reader of the newspaper can know many important incidents happening through the world sitting in their house. Newspapers promote many interesting fact through the state and country. Newspapers increase the general knowledge of the people. They also increase the communication skill of the reader. Reading newspaper everyday is a good habit. So try to cultivate this habit. Newspaper brings awareness of many anti social elements of the society. Newspapers are manufacture in a large scale. It provides employment to many thousands of people. It becomes of means living to many people. We find children selling newspaper in morning and evening on the roads to fill their stomach every day. Such incidents really touch the heart. Newspapers are printed in all local language and also in English in India. In some school the rule are made in such manner that everyday news must be read by any one of the student in the student.

          In some school The Hindu newspaper are given to students at lesser price. This is called the "NIE" schemes started by Hindu newspapers. They will many useful things available in the newspaper. The seduce game attracts everyone and also it increases the thinking ability of the people. Children enjoy this game, and will many more games. Tips for examination are also provided in newspaper, the tips are designed in such a manner that they decrease the tension in the students. The newspapers are also available in internet; they are available in their respective official sites. This not only benefits people of India but also the world wide people can come to know about what is happening in the interior parts of the country. The sport column attracts all the sport lover and young stars, and the latest updates of various sport are mentioned in this column. The cinema column is attracted by most of the young stars and by all film lovers. Sometimes they are people who only read cinema column and sport column and leave the other part of paper aside. They are many advantage of reading paper. They educate people a lot. Reading paper every day develops a strict discipline in the mankind. It also explains the various problems of this modern world.

           Newspapers play an important role in human life. The newspaper increases general knowledge of the people. They are two types of newspaper in India. Some paper is cover the news from throughout and some other paper are strictly confined with the news with deal with state issue. We can see news in television also but television strains the eye and also results in many health problems. Newspaper brings out information about the various job opportunities. It also provides the rate of commodities and other valuable information. Newspaper brings awareness about right and duties of the citizen and they also help in doing justice to the needy. Newspaper is only media which support the public and in fact they work day and night for the welfare of the people. Newspaper is also very effective media. They is special column that is editor column, that is public can write to editor of the local paper about their problem with in there locality, and the concerned authorities will take measure to solve the problem. Such as if road in Ramnagar is not in good condition, then any person in that locality can write to editor, then the editor publishes it in the newspaper and concerned authorities will take measure to solve the problem. By this way the newspaper become close to the people.

             At that point of time they were no other media expert newspapers. Newspaper played a major role in passing the important information regarding the freedom struggle from different parts of the country. There were many articles written and printed in newspaper inspired the youth, the articles written in newspaper inspired the youth so much that they left their job as well as their education and joined the freedom moments. In this the newspaper contributed a lot to India independence. An also people came to know the news of various importance incidence of freedom moment happening in the different part of the country. Freedom moment was started in the year 1857, at this time the newspaper was only means of communication. Though newspaper was only means of communication, but they were so advancement in technology and also people did not know the important of newspaper at that time. Slowly as the time passed people realized the importance of newspaper and almost the time of First World War the importance of newspaper increased. Newspaper played a predominant role in the freedom movement. The great Gandhi wrote many important articles and inspired the youth. Gandhi ideas of non violence, Satyagraha and other important aspect like quit India movement and many more were printed and published in newspaper. Newspaper played vital role in transformation the information throughout the country. During the quit India in 1942, the newspaper became the essential tool of both sharing ideas as well as to know got of information. Absolutely the newspaper is basic requirement and contributed very effectively in the freedom movement. Newspaper passed lots of information to people of different parts of country.

       Newspaper is great gift to mankind. Newspaper is serving the mankind from the very beginning of 17th century, not only in India but also in various parts of the world. Newspaper has its own mark in publishing informative news to the people. It is the best media and it really works for the welfare of the people and for the improvement of the people. Thereby it works for the people and contribute a lot in the development of the country. The services to mankind cannot be described in words. Newspaper does not contain any in favor of any political parties. It always provides correct information. At times people realize many facts about anti social element like corruption. It also provides element to serval thousand of peoples, and it also gives food to thousands of families. It becomes means of living to serval thousand people. It plays an extravagant role in educating people of rural areas regarding the anti social element like corruption, rational discrimination, dowry and many more. It also plays an informative role at the time of natural calamities and many more, reporters are given a high amount of respect for the hard work they do collecting information and the editors take up a job of editing the information brought by the reporters. It is an ultimate gift of technology and also the best informative media. It provides right news and also provides the important incidents happening through the country or at times through the world. It is very cheap and almost every house in the country is equipped with newspaper as it is very cheap and also very informative to mankind. It gives a rapid change in the communication of the people. Reading newspaper everyday is a very good habit. At least if people spend ten minutes on reading newspaper increases communication skill, general knowledge. Old people spend a lot of time reading newspaper as they have a lot of free time and so they try to spend as much time as possible in reading newspaper. It also educates about the rules and regulation in the best way. It brings a lot of changes in mankind. Newspaper is the king of the informative media. It also bring lot of awareness in the injustice done to the rural people as most of them in rural areas are not educated, so uneducated do not have much awareness of the injustice done to them. So the reporters take up the job of bringing awareness in the people. The newspaper is the most media. On an average the newspaper consists of twenty two pages in it, and each and every page is interesting and knowledge gaining, not only knowledge gaining but also interesting. The sport column attracts most of the teenagers, youth and all the sport lovers. The cinema column is very attracted again by teenagers, youth and all film lovers. They are also some interesting games present in the news paper which increases thinking capacity of the people. The film and sport stars interviews are also published. In editor column people complain on the problems they are suffering within their locality are also published. The cornice authorities are ordered to do the needful at the earlies

            Newspaper is a great example of the advancement in technology. Newspaper provides important news to mankind. It services to mankind cannot be any rate. It provides employment to some thousands of people and encourages them to serve the public. It also brings awareness in the public about the right and duties that should done. Newspaper also educates many people in rural area and also tries to fight for the injustice done to them by the higher authorizes. So reporters become god to the public at times as they serve the poor and fight against the people doing injustice to the poor people. Newspaper is also very cheap but very informative. They really

        Today television channels and newspapers are making rapid income by cashing in on the news in mistaken techniques. In the race to become the most popular and the richest, they have broken the laws that media must follow while trying to build a progressive society. There is no respect for the principles of the people and land that they serve. With their persuasive ways, they try to control people instead of simply advising them as they are supposed to. While the media is sometimes viewed as being overly violent and greedy in their plight for the latest and hottest news, their purpose is essential in a democratic society so that the people can keep track of their administrators. The media has the ability to hold governments responsible, forcing them to explain their actions and decisions, all of which affect the people they represent.

If media did what it was intended for, it will be a great force in building the nation but, at present, media has become a money-making sector. Instead of giving important information and educational programmes, all there is on television, is sensational depictions of new stories; their only goal is to get television rating points. Every issue is publicized for a few days, on most channels around the same time, but when the drama is over, no channel follows up the case to let the public know what is going on. They conceal this by using other heated issues. In a democratic community, people should know all their options but the media, which usually provides this, is corrupt. Television channels and newspapers act as the mouthpieces of several parties and spread the parties’ ideologies instead of delivering accurate news. The public has to judge on their own by looking at different channels or newspapers for the same news, and then form their opinion.

When considering the effects of television on its viewers, we must agree that, generally, it is the choice of each individual what he / she will watch or not, as it is with the consumption of any other media. We cannot blame the television and the contents of its channels for any negative influence on the audience. Also, we must keep in mind that there are individuals within the society, like children, mentally disabled people, which cannot be held responsible for their own actions. Their choices are not always for their own best, and adult supervision is needed in performing some actions, as well as their TV watching.

        These people are not able to completely comprehend what they see on TV, as they cannot completely separate reality from fiction and imagination. Children, especially, being curious by nature, tend to watch various scenes that intrigue them because they do not understand them, like sex and violent scenes. These kinds of television programmes are not educational, and do not consider the children's confusion misinterpretation of the subject, therefore they are not suitable for them.

        Although television might influence the children negatively, I believe that the TV houses are not responsible for this effect. I would appeal to the responsibility of parents, who monitor and restrict their children's viewings, as R. Molony said in his article 'Private viewings'. Too many parents give the children freedom in choice of what they watch, not considering the child's innate curiosity.

        As for the adults, I believe that television cannot be held responsible for any of their malevolent behavior. They, as adults, hold the complete responsibility for their actions, and anything they see on TV is primarily their own choice. No one is forced to watch any programme, and a healthy adult should be able to make a clear distinction between reality and fiction. Also he / she must understand that anything seen on TV is not an objective view, i.e. everything shown on TV has been prepared by someone, chosen by someone and made for a specific audience with a purpose.

      The violence seen on daily shows and movies has become more common, and is seen as normal. Some object, as it might negatively influence the viewers. I see the violence as a natural way of releasing aggression, as our lives, today, have become comfortable, and rarely there is an occasion for an individual to engage in aggressive, exciting, and adrenaline-arousing activities, which would satisfy him on a psychological level. As A. Hemingway states in her article 'Television: a channel for aggression', "violence is the product of energy", and I see that this, mental energy, should be released in some form. Many psychological theories claim that aggression can be released through sports, violence on TV, video games, etc.

        To conclude, I would like to say, from my own experience, that TV like any other popular media, has many of its advantages, and it seems that life would be boring without it. But as the amount available contents on TV increases, one must be careful in choosing the ones valuable and helpful to him / her. On my own skin I have experienced the feeling of addiction to TV, but I would say that now, I try to spend my time engaging in more creative and interacting activities.

    One of the most influential forces of the media in any society is the ability to effect change on both social and governmental levels. The media affects people’s perspective through its diverse assemblage of mediums. People can be either positively or negatively affected by these messages. In today’s world, media has become almost as necessary as food. Media is a mirror of society and plays an outstanding role in strengthening it. The media put the lives of its workers in danger during attacks or natural disasters to keep us up-to-date. It is partially due to the media that awareness of many problems is spreading in the society. The media has become so involved in our lives that to recognise its impact on us, we need to step back and make a conscious effort to think about how it shapes our lives and what those in the media are saying.

       Media is an integral part of our society, but too much intervention in everything is a disturbing matter. Sometimes, just for the sake of a higher income, insignificant news is given so much detail and so much priority, that the real news is hardly noticed. Like science it is a tool, which we have to use by our judgment to provide all round satisfaction and safety. In spite of being cerebrally biased, the significance of media cannot be ignored, especially in this age in which globalization and liberalization have become well known. In this overall orb, known as the Earth, the tasks and duties of the media are increasing day by day and there is still a lot to be done for the betterment of society.

     How does mass media affect a society? In the case of television and radio, early developments in the 1900’s changed the slow pace of the population. Print at that time was the form of communication and very much localized to each city with its own newspapers and writers, therefore, the values and attitudes of the citizens remained very provincial. The onset of television and radio changed it with its wider audience and much faster methods of spreading information and programming.

        Radio developed first in the 1920’s with television coming into more widespread use in the 1940’s and 50’s. Each brought about much change and there have been debates on the programming of both mediums. Marshall McLuhan, an English and Communications professor, in his book about mass media wrote about the consequences of television and other forms of communications. His quote the “Medium is the Message”, explained his thoughts that the content was really meaningless but that the television or radio itself is what was important. That it was the societal changes of the medium itself that was relevant. The use of the technology would alter society’s ideas and values and that the world would become a “global village”.
        And it is true in this respect. Cultural values and lifestyle have changed over time by use of television, radio and internet. What was once closed societies, with its own ways of living and thinking, is now more generic. Lifestyles in one part of the world become similar to those in another part of the world. By being bombarded with images, what was once abnormal, becomes the norm. And it’s not just lifestyles; it is attitudes and morals that change. So in one way, it may change people’s opinions for the better, but in another, it may impact the social system of a whole population.
       Where else can you see this change? In fashion, people use to wear variations of their national dress. More and more, people all over the world use the same exact pieces of clothing. Due to seeing it on television, the dress code is blue jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Even the brand names are starting to be commonplace. What is popular in one country can be the trend everywhere else. In speech patterns, sounds are starting to be similar. And yes, with English being more and more spoken by the rest of the world, the American slang words as well as the American accents are being adapted. In time references, people work television or radio into their lives by working around their favorite programs. People get up in the morning and flip on the news. People get home from work and flip on music or a sit-com. And in information, what once was specialized knowledge has become normal everyday knowledge. The normal child probably knows more about life in general than did an adult 100 years ago. Information has become readily available to everyone at any time. And that is also part of mass media today, that it is there and you can get it at any time.